(edit) that post landed in the wrong forum thread. Loved "Golden Hour" since I had it in 1977 from the lower-priced import bin.
Destin, Florida... A little disappointing, looks like we have a red tide (algal bloom) coming/here, so my beautiful ocean visit is not really going to happen. Perhaps I'll hit the canvas tomorrow
No not you or i but there must be an awful lot of people that have never bought a Kinks album that i imagine would enjoy their songs!
Now you're morphing into "Sunny Afternoon"! Anyway, hope your day in FL was like up here in MA, very beautiful. I had to spend it at my library job & nobody was there so I sent another article dump to this thread.
Well, if it is my left eye (the one that got operated on) it looks like someone put a piece of Saran Wrap in front of it! Have a good night & a great vacation.
Yes, of course. He's kind of a national treasure in France. He was one of the great "yéyé" artists back in the day ("yéyé", pronounced "yeahyeah" but abbreviated and with a heavy french accent, was the name given to our local teen-pop wave in the sixties). His output stood out because of his superb tongue in cheek cocky attitude, some pretty rocking backing and, yes, wonderful sociological, satyrical (sometimes non-sensical) lyrics that he almost never wrote himself (a poet/ novelist called Jacques Lanzman did, at least during his most successful/iconic years). Dutronc was the music guy in the partnership, but the comparison with Ray is still apt and I must say I thought of some of his tunes on occasions since the beginning of this thread (1966's "Et moi et moi et moi" is an excellent early Kinks/Pretty Things pastiche). Some songs are truly exceptional, like his 1972 late night /early morning masterpiece Il est cinq heure, Paris s'éveille (5AM, Paris awakens). I could agree… except I've just checked again and I can certify not a single post used the magic word ("psychedelic") in relation to these tracks when they were discussed here (which was the whole concept behind my "psyk Kinks” list in the first place)… You mean time off the thread ? Very little !!
Since we're rounding out the 60s, I thought I'd share some notes I made recently. On my Patreon for the Podcasts I also run a show called 'Artists in Mono', and I did a two part series on the Kinks' mono work through 1968, focussing on the recording chronology as best as I could find the info. Obviously there's a few clashes on info on some tracks, but I just went with my gut when these clashes occured. I haven't covered 1969 due to the fact it's all very simple by then, but here's the rough notes I made to work from (including abbreviations etc). It really shocked me when things were recorded, and it's interesting seeing what sessions are at the same time as others, especially in the early years where one can kinda work out what was intended as a B-Side for a single, but then held over for later. 1963: Regent Sound, 19th October - I Believed You / I’m a Hog 1964: Regent Sound, Jan - I Don’t Need You Anymore (Demo) Jan 17th / 20th 1964 - Long Tall / I Took / You Still / You Do / I Don’t Need You Anymore Jun 1964? – It’s Alright July 1964? – YRGM Aug 18th-Sept 1st – KINKS LP (12 Songs) + TOWFY (overdub Dec 29th) Aug 31st-1st – I Gotta Move Sept 23-24th – All Day And AOTN / I Gotta Go Now Oct 19th – Louie Louie / I’ve Got That Feeling Nov 18th – Things Are Getting Better Regent Sound, 10th Dec - Everybody’s Gonna Be Happy Dec 22nd/23rd – Something Better Beginning / Ev’rybody’s / Who’ll be The Next In Line / Come on Now IBC Studios, Dec 29th – Don’t Ever Change (+ TOWFY Overdub) 1965: 15th-17th Feb – KINDA KINKS (8 Songs) LP 14th Apr – Set Me Free / I Need You / Time Will Tell / Never Met A Girl Like You Before / Such a Shame 3rd May – See My Friends / Wait Till The Summer Comes Along Regent Sound, 25th May – Ray Demos x5 Regent Sound, 31st May – This I Know (Demo) 6th Aug – A Well Respected / Don’t You Fret Early Aug (?) – Milk Cow Blues / Ring The Bells 23-30th Oct – KONTROVERSY LP (10 Songs) Dec 29th/30th - You're Looking Fine / And I Will Love You / Sittin on My Sofa Dec – All Night Stand 1966: Jan – Dandy Feb 2 - Mr Reporter (Ray) / Dedicated (v1) Feb 7 - She's Got Everything (first tracking) / Dedicated Follower of Fashion April - Party Line / Too Much On My Mind / Most Exclusive Residence For Sale / House In The Country / End of The Season May - Rosy / Session Man / Rainy Day / Holiday in Wakiki / This Is Where I Belong May 12th – I’m not Like Everybody Else May 13th - Sunny Afternoon / Fancy June 21st - Little Miss Queen Of Darkness October 21st - Big Black Smoke / Dead End Street V1 October 22nd - Dead End Street November 24th/25th - Two Sisters (Strings Feb '67) / Village Green (Strings Feb '67) 1967: Jan to Feb - Act Nice and Gentle (Jan) / No Return / Harry Rag (Feb) / Tin Soldier Man (Early to mid)/ Situation Vacant (Early to mid) Mar - Mr Pleasant Apr - Waterloo Sunset May-Jun - David Watts / Afternoon Tea / Funny Face Jun - Death of a Clown / Love Me Till the Sunshines / Lazy old Sun / Little Women (Backing Track) / Rosemary Rose July – Good Luck Charm Aug - Susannah's Still Alive / Lavender Hill Sept - Autumn Almanac / Mr. Songbird Autumn – Sitting by The Riverside (to May 1968) / Starstuck (to July 1968) / Phenomenal Cat (to may 1968) / All Of My Friends (to July 1968) / Berkeley Mews 1968: Jan – There’s No Life Without Love (til March) March – Walter (or July) / Picture Book (or May) / Monica (Or May) / Animal Farm / Wonderboy / Polly / Did You See His Name (or May) / Egg Stained Pyjamas / Lincoln County 29th March – Johnny Thunder / Mick Avory’s Underpants 3rd-27th May – Days / Overdubs to She’s Got Everything / Pictures in the Sand / Easy Come, there You Went May – Misty Water July – Wicked Annabella (maybe Nov 1966, unlikely to my ears) August – The Village Green Preservation Society / People Take Pictures Sept – Till Death us Do part Oct – Big Sky / Steam Powered Trains Dec – Hold My Hand / Do You Wish To Be A Man / Creeping Jean / Crying
I agree the Dutronc/Lanzman writing partnership is a good French parallel to Ray. Edit: "Le responsable" is a personal favourite.
I've been trying different playlists suggested above and dipping into the old magazine articles posted on this thread - it's a good thing we are having a short break from the analysis to just take stock. Thanks Mark! Taking a different tack on playlists, I thought I could make a great playlist of cover versions of Kinks' sixties songs by other artists I like. It isn't trying to be comprehensive - there are dozens of covers - but these are mostly excellent in my opinion. Of these artists, Lanegan would be my favourite in terms of owning everything he's done (Big Star too, but that's just four studio and a handful of live albums), with Bowie a close second. I didn't touch Ray's duets with various luminaries or live versions (except YGRM on 801's definitive live album). But a special shout out for Elliott Smith's (unofficial) live versions of Waterloo Sunset, Big Sky and Set Me Free - I wish he'd have done a studio version of one of those before he passed away. Van Halen – You Really Got Me 801 (Manzanera/Eno) – You Really Got Me Pretenders – Stop Your Sobbing Pretenders – I Go to Sleep Mark Lanegan – Nothin’ in the World Can Stop Me Worryin’ Bout that Girl The Stranglers – All Day and All of the Night Queens of the Stone Age – Who Will be the Next in Line Big Star – Till the End of the Day David Bowie – Where Have All the Good Times Gone Marianne Faithful – Rosy Won’t You Please Come Home Yo La Tengo – Fancy Yo La Tengo – No Return The Jam – David Watts Mick Harvey – Funny Face Matthew Sweet and Susannah Hoffs – Village Green Preservation Society The Minus 5 – Wicked Annebella Matthew Sweet – Big Sky Ed Kuepper – Last of the Steam Powered Trains
The Long Distance Piano Player, E1 S1 of the BBC1 anthology series ‘Play For Today’ Starring Ray Davies, written by Alan Plater, directed by Phillip Saville Broadcast 15th October 1970. A few points I’d like to mention up front: first of all, thanks so much to Mark for letting me guest host this week with this watchalong of Ray’s first acting role. It is a total privilege to be allowed to take the reigns for one week of this great thread: that said, this watchalong (being as it pertains to an extra curricular project of Ray’s and not primary Kinks work) to anyone not interested should be considered a bit of ongoing background activity burblin'away if they instead wish to take their last chance to catch up on the 60s this week. Also, while I know this programme is from the last quarter of 1970 and so not strictly chronological here, somehow I think in spirit if not detail it fits as an unusual item to cover during this 60s/70s interregnum. Another thing to mention before I begin: the definitive account of the background and making of this show has already been written by one Simon Farquar (who published an entire book on the first series of Play For Today) just last year, and can be found here: Play for Today: The Long Distance Piano Player .. I would say consult that article for the authoritative account, my posts on here are more like an informal braindump of overly verbose meanderings. Anyway, to the main subject: In 1970 Ray, after spending the last few years circling closer and closer around the worlds of film and TV through his songwriting, took a giant leap into the centre stage by accepting the lead role in the debut episode of BBC1’s anthology drama series ‘Play For Today’, an episode entitled ‘The Long Distance Piano Player’. Though the obscurity of this particular episode (though not the series as a whole) today occludes it’s significance, this was a Fairly Big Deal at the time: ‘Play For Today’ (which was a new rebranding of the earlier ‘Wednesday Play’ now unbound to weekday of transmission) was primetime, prestige stuff and unlike Ray’s previous TV work on the more leftfield channel BBC2 was broadcast on the primary channel BBC1 and would be seen by a massive mainstream audience ( in fact I suspect that with respect to this that The Kinks comeback with ‘Lola’ a few months before was surely not unrelated to Ray being offered the part in terms of his star power rising anew). Play For Today attracted and contracted the very cream of the UK’s writing and directing talent (take a look at the wiki for proof: Play for Today - Wikipedia ) and throughout it’s 70s and early 80s run produced many highly regarded landmark instalments of televised drama that stand even today as classics burnt into the collective consciousness of many UK citizens. However it’s also fair to say that this very first edition with Ray is not one of them, and could even be not inaccurately referred to as ‘an inauspicious start’. Why was this? Well, I’ve only watched the show once before this watchalong, but as I recall the it has a somewhat offbeat premise that I can’t see having mass appeal (Ray plays a somewhat guileless ineffectual lead character attempting the record for longest continual piano playing) and I remember the fairly restrained drama such as it is being mainly between his exploitative, Barnum esque manager (played by Norman Rossington, who also managed The Beatles In A Hard Days Night) and his girlfriend, (Lois Daine). It came across as an almost childlike low key fairy tale type story that lacked much of the visceral realism and grit or involved intellectual intrigue that the programme’s later installments would engage audiences with. But I’m definitely up for trying a reappraisal this week! Hoping some of the Avids on this thread can join me and be interested in reading peoples thoughts on this unusual item in the Kinks Khronology. A FEW TECHNICAL NOTES: The Youtube upload is split into 10 parts, but unfortunately (probably a copyright strike) part one is missing. That’s not a huge problem though, as if you know the basic premise you can jump right in. The real problem is the quality of the footage: this was originally made on 625 line colour videotape, which would have looked great. Sadly the BBC only kept an edited b/w telerecording, and compounding even that, the copy used for the upload is like 4th generation or something, and ends up resembling something closer to a ghostly Victorian magic lantern show than the pristine state of the art 70s production it originally was. Archival issues like this unfortunately have the effect of making this show seem more ‘distant’ and inaccessible to a modern audience than it had to be. Despite that, it is just about possible to follow the action along even from this poor version. I’ll post the first 2 parts (2 and 3) today, then do 2 a day for the next 3 days and the last part and some kind of summing up on Friday. Along the way I’ll try to add more incidental posts relating to aspects of the show. (nb: PHEW! I have no idea how Mark manages to do one of these a day!!!!)
I reckon Ray's acting is impressive in that first segment. I wonder if this spurred his more theatrical focus from 1972-75.
Interesting. I remember back in the day, there were all these folks doing weird things to try and get in the Guinness Book of Records. Do people still do that kind of thing? I don't seem to have heard about it for a long long time. Ray comes across as comfortable and relaxed. He seems to fit fairly naturally into his part.
Well, @Fortuleo just messaged me to say that in fact part one is on Youtube, just presumably only outside the UK (and the BBC's legal reach) as it comes up as unavailable for me! But for all non-UK residents, give this link a go:
Ok so now we have “alcohol” on “holiday.” you should see how many other Muswell titles you can experience there. Any people in grey? Hopefully life is not complicated there.